Many semiconductor devices are fabricated using semiconductor layers that are epitaxially grown on a substrate. Compared to bulk crystals of semiconductors, semiconductor layers that are epitaxially grown have fewer defects, are of higher quality, and therefore can improve the characteristics of the semiconductor devices.
However, substrates that are used for the epitaxial growth principally perform a role of mechanically supporting thin film semiconductor layers and rarely proactively function to improve the characteristics of semiconductor devices. In some cases, such substrates are a factor that inhibits the realization of high performance in semiconductor devices. For example, in light emitting devices formed by using InGaAlP semiconductors that emit light in the green to red wavelength range, GaAs substrates that have similar lattice constants are used as growth substrates. However, there is a problem in that GaAs crystals absorb green to red light, thus causing luminous intensity to decrease.
Hence, a technique is used wherein a high-quality InGaAlP semiconductor is grown on the GaAs substrate, and thereafter a stacked body having a plurality of semiconductor layers including a light emitting layer is transferred to another substrate. For example, the stacked body can be adhered to a support substrate formed from silicon or the like via a joining metal layer that reflects light emitted from the light emitting layer. Thereby, the light absorption by the substrate can be eliminated and the luminous intensity of the light emitting device can be increased.
However, in a cutting process in which the support substrate provided with the joining metal layer is diced, curls and other defects are prone to be formed on an edge of the cut-out chip, which leads to a decline in production yield. Therefore, there is a need for a semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same wherein the forming of curls and other defects can be suppressed when cutting the chips from a support substrate that has a joining metal layer provided on a surface thereof.